Inspiring Rabbis 2016: 32 Men and Women Who Move Us Most
Rabbi Jacobs made it possible for me to establish my dream of creating a kosher food pantry in Plantation. I am not a religious guy and was never really involved in Judaism. But she never judged me. She just accepts me, and she understood my passion — to feed people. She has so much experience…
Rabbi Liz Bolton is the most inspirational and beloved rabbi I have ever met. In the three years since she arrived in Ottawa, she has transformed our congregation, grown relationships both to the entire Jewish community and with a broad array of other faiths and sparked a new enthusiasm for both Judaism and social justice…
Rabbi Mackler came to the temple right after her ordination. She brought with her not only her extensive academic knowledge of Judaism, but also the heart of Judaism. Her kindness knows no bounds and always, always reminds us of what it means to be a Jew in these often dangerous times. She shows me on…
My wife and I live in Connecticut and visit Coastal Georgia a few times a year. We previously attended services haphazardly at Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick over the years. When Rabbi Rachael came, the synagogue became alive with people and ruach. We now attend every Rosh Hashanah and even had Rabbi Rachael renew our…
We met Rabbi Lobb when she officiated at the funeral of my grandfather in Port St. Lucie. We came from New York and had not met her before, but she showed an intuitive understanding of the complexities of various family dynamics and crafted a service that was so poignant and relevant we were all astounded….
Government prosecutors have interviewed board members and former employees of the bankrupt Jewish social service agency FEGS amid ongoing investigations of the group’s financial collapse. The new details of the investigations, which come from newly-released transcripts of a bankruptcy court hearing, show that the government probes are ongoing, more than a year after FEGS’s baffling…
After having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, top representatives of Israel and the United States found themselves on the same stage Thursday night at the Israeli Embassy , celebrating the Jewish state’s 68th birthday. Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador who orchestrated prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress last year, which was…
A powerful Hasidic leader has slammed a bill in the New York State Legislature that would enforce laws that require religious schools to teach secular subjects. Moderate Jewish groups that are normally vocal on religious education issues, meanwhile, are staying silent. The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee in early May, is one of two…
A large group of federal agents and local law enforcement officials descended on the ultra-Orthodox village of Kiryas Joel in Orange County, New York on Thursday morning, carrying out searches throughout town. A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office confirmed that there had been “investigative activity” in Kiryas Joel on Thursday,…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has dodged repeated entreaties from advocates against child sexual abuse to support legislation that would enable many victims of this crime to seek justice from their abusers. In a May 9 statement, Cuomo sidestepped pointed questions from the advocates, and from the press, about his willingness to push the state…
Jewish students at Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design decided to hold a May 11 event at their Hillel building focused on the Palestinian experience of Israeli independence in defiance of what they called “pressure” from Hillel International, according to two students with direct knowledge of the event who spoke anonymously to protect…
